recolle | [closed]

When the invitation first came in, Alicia had immediately assumed it was to swap notes, and had set to keeping information in a small notebook. Of course, such a thing being found on her person would be outright dangerous, so it's written more like story ideas for some mysterious upcoming project. Still, the information's all there.

On the day of the meeting, Alicia showed up exactly five minutes early, dropped off a few streets away and walking the rest of the way. She'd dressed for comfort but with effort put in to still make a small impression: a pair of worn but undamaged jeans and a bright, mildly dressy top. She was admittedly unsure how Rachel's parents (mother, she thinks she remembers from the Towers?) would take her showing up on the doorstep, but ideally Rachel will have taken care of that. Upon reaching the right house, she stopped at the end of the sidewalk, with a look down in the direction she'd been going and another up to the stoop. Had she arrived first...?

You are, more or less, just that Alicia! However, it's not by much as Maya is bounding up the sidewalk moments later. Dressed in bright pinks and reds - maybe those memories are being a bigger influence subconsciously than she realizes - she gives a call as she sees the other girl.

"Alicia~! Hi!"

...it seems like Maya has greeted her numerous times at this point, this way. Please bear with her. She skids to a halt, expression bright, in spite of the weird circumstances. It's kind of weird, actually - in spite of everything, her spirits have been a bit more consistently high since all this began than they may have been many times in the past.

"Boy, you're punctual!"

Usually, Melody is the type to arrive right on time or even early. She tries her best to be responsible. However, that applies for things that are usually in her schedule. This is... not really a usual thing for her. Now, it's not like she gets there late or anything, but she does manage to arrive last.

She's dressed very properly and she's carrying a bag. As she approaches, she nods at the other girls. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting." Melody you got here like maybe a minute after the others, chill. "I had practice right before this."

The other girls arriving brings a small smile to Alicia's face. "It's fine! Being early is kind of a habit these days, thanks to Papa." Maya's cheer is noticeable and mildly infectious, as it happens. She nods to confirm that she understands why Melody was running behind, and after a moment she turns back toward the house they're all assembled in front of. It seems normal enough... then again, everything in this city seems normal, still?

...no, better not to think of that just yet; in a way, that's what they're here for in the first place. Mustering her courage, she starts toward the door and, after a moment to confirm the other girls are behind her, raises a hand to decisively ring the bell. She's putting on her best performance-smile; if it's not Rachel that answers the door, she wants to be prepared. And hopefully one of the three of them has a suitable cover story, because their true purpose will probably sound very, very suspect.

As she'd been waiting near the door, Rachel had heard the other girls' voices from inside. But she didn't leap to open it just yet, fearing that throwing the door open without a knock or the doorbell would sound desperate.

Then, as she was deliberating, she heard the doorbell. The decision had been made for her. Sucking in a deep breath, she hurried over and opened it.

"Maya! Melody! Alica! You're all here...!" she exclaimed. "Come on in! Thanks for coming!"

Oh god. She hoped and prayed she didn't blow this...

A consistent set of friends isn't something Maya's used to, and the true purposes of their meeting sort of drain out of her as she sees Melody approach. She's glad the other girl did show up, and she takes it as a mild sign that maybe she was getting through to Melody on some level! Maybe. Or not, either way she doesn't care and waves happily.

Once they're at the doorstep, the doorbell's been rung, and Rachel greets them, she gives her a ... uh, thumb's up. Because she still thinks that looks cool for some reason.

"Of course! After all, I think we've all got a lot to work out here, right?"

For the most part, Melody just keeps her expression neutral. For the most part. When Maya does that thumb's up, it briefly changes to mildly exasperated, because... really? Really. Okay.

So Melody will just walk past Maya, stopping to nod at Rachel. "Hm, not a problem. I don't mind adjusting my schedule this once. This seems important." And then she'll just... enter, since Rachel told them to come in and all.

Not really the warmest of greetings.

That thumbs up earns a blink and a stare even from Rachel. She's not exactly the most socially aware, but... Yeah. That's a bit corny.

"A-ah well, of course!" she says, snapping out of it in time to move out of the way for everyone. "Just make yourselves at home. We can sit in the living room, or-or," she pauses, stopping her voice from cracking, "or my room if you want. The living room is off to the left, and my room is at the top of the stairs and to the right...!"

Rachel's nervousness and excitement is obvious, but not too overbearing. Still, it's easy to tell she's not used to company. The living room is immediately visible from the doorway to the left, with an opening to a dining room to the right. The latter looks typical enough, with a table and a case with the good china in it. The living room itself is what you'd might expect as well, with a large couch, two chairs, and a coffee table. There's a large TV and entertainment center in there as well, along with pictures, and a fireplace with some family photos on it.

If one looked at those family photos, they'd notice only Rachel, a woman who looked like her mother, and some relatives. There's absolutely none of her father.

If they decided to head up to her room, the staircase was also front of the door, in between the entrances to the living room and dining room, leading to an upstairs hallway/

"I made some snacks... you guys get settled in while I fetch them! Then we can get to business, alright?"

"We do have much to discuss," Alicia remarks as calmly as she generally feels on the subject - which isn't much, as a slight note of discomfort enters her tone. Still, she follows behind, coming onto the step and taking in the environment with a careful glance at Rachel at some point - their host remains a bit nervous, which is probably sensible given how she was acting previously. (She does briefly glance sideways at Maya as they cross paths, because really, that's kind of a weird greeting.)

The pictures do catch her eye, and she makes a mental note that it's just Rachel and her mother across the board. Everything is... normal? Which is fine, and probably what she should have expected. Her own home is kind of a ridiculous example. There's seating enough for them down here, but... there's a problem in having that discussion here, isn't there?

Summoning as much tact as she can find, she adds, "You don't expect your mother home anytime soon, correct?" Because she's going to give the lot of us funny looks if she comes in and hears any of this, she thinks but doesn't say. "I don't mind having it here, but if she's due back, we should perhaps go upstairs." Having a feeling Rachel's anxiety will cause her to start moving while being spoken to, she keeps half an eye on the girl while she talks, and lets her tone start to rise toward the end should she indeed drift toward the kitchen. She seems to recall that Rachel's mother will be gone for a while, but... better to be certain.

Edited 2017-03-01 03:51 (UTC)

Somehow, Maya manages to feel all the eyes on her at her thumb's up, which makes her feel more than a little self conscious at first. It's offset by Rachel's blisteringly obvious nervousness, which she can't really blame the other girl for but it is... sure noticeable. More observant than her actions give evidence to at times, Maya takes a look around the house. The pictures stick out, and she bites her lip a bit, but makes a note to not pry there.

There's been a couple conversations already where Rachel has specifically avoided mentioning a father, so... She makes a note not to veer into that subject anymore than she has to, for now.

She spins around from staring at a family photo, raising a finger at Alicia's question.

"That's a good point, but also we should probably go wherever Rachel's most comfortable talking about all this stuff!" She brings back a sunny smile, hoping to pierce the tension of nervousness, concern, and ... Melody.

"I know this is all super weird, but there's no need to be too formal about it, right?"

Edited 2017-03-02 04:16 (UTC)

Melody wanders slightly away from the other girls. Not that she can go far, since they are in the same room, but she's doing her best here. The photos only briefly catch her eye, but she lets it be. Rachel's family situation is none of her business. She also doesn't really reply to most of the talking, mostly because... she's not sure how much she really has to add until they get to the real conversation.

She turns back to look at the others, though, when Maya speaks up. Well, specifically she gives Maya somewhat of a look. Not... a bad look, at least? Not that it's ever really easy to be sure with her.

"...Hm." It looks like there's something she wants to say to that last part, but... she changes her mind. Instead she looks back over at some of the pictures. "Wherever we talk is fine with me. It's what we talk about that matters, not where."

"Mom won't be back until later in the evening," Rachel replied with a nod. "She's on call at the hospital... just because it's the weekend doesn't mean people stop getting sick, after all. But if she does come home we can easily move upstairs."

Where everyone's eyes move isn't lost on Rachel, but if they aren't going to say anything, she isn't. She laughs nervously at Maya's comment, before turning towards the kitchen. "I think the living room will be just fine for now, then. Have a seat while I get the snacks."

And with that, she turned to head into the kitchen.

"Okay, staying down here might be easier, then," Alicia allows quickly. She notices that the other girls quickly pick up on the pictures - at least, Maya does, and Melody seems to dismiss them - and files that information away as well. It's not what they're here for, but is might be helpful at some point. Maybe.

As Rachel walks away to retrieve snacks, Alicia moves fully into the living room, taking a seat on one of the couches as requested. Her attention isn't fully on what's in front of her, given she's got memories whirling in her head to discuss, along with the reality of what this discussion will mean going forward. She'd asked Maya before without expecting an answer, but... what are they to each other? If Maya's right, and the four of them are the four girls in her memories - their memories, now - what changes? What should they do from here...?

Her returning nervousness is probably visible in her expression as she thinks, though if she catches someone's eye, she'll shore up a pleasant enough smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes.

"Okay, then!" Maya exclaims at Rache's suggestion, and moves to flop - gently - into one of the seats. She scans over to the other girls, focusing on Alicia for a moment. She notices something not quite right and puffs her cheeks a bit.

Where others might be trying to hide their emotions, Maya's start to leak out.

"Look, I know this is real odd. I know we've got things to be worried about... But, I just. Wanted to say that before ANY of these stupid memories cropped up, all of you were either nice to me, or helped me-" Particularly, Melody did one of those but maybe not the other. She's still going to take that as a win. "I don't think this... needs to change any of that? If anything, everything I've remembered showed all of us as friends...!"

Melody takes a seat as well. Honestly, she'd be content to just wait quietly, ignoring Alicia's nervousness. But then, of course, Maya speaks up once again. It's about what she expects from the girl by now. Maybe she doesn't need to respond to it, but...

Well, it's more of Maya's optimism, isn't it? That positive attitude. Which isn't how Melody is at all, but she'd be fine with ignoring it in most situations. But this isn't most situations. Nothing about this is normal at all.

"...You're free to decide that for yourself." Melody brushes a few stray hairs from her face, making sure her hair clip is still right. "However, I'd rather wait and see until after we've talked through this. No offense meant to any of you," she adds quickly. "But I can't say for certain yet if it'll change anything or not."

Rachel can hear what everyone's saying from the kitchen. And, honestly, it gives her pause. She looks down at the tray with the snacks she's collected, wondering if perhaps this might not go as well as she wanted it to. It was unfair to assume anything of anyone, including Melody, even if she felt like they'd been getting on well before now. That didn't automatically mean they'd all click together, right?

... But there was still something connecting them. Something they needed to talk about. Whether they'd all be friends together, that would remain to be seen. It was time to focus on what was most important. Steeling herself, she picked up the tray and walked into the living room.

"Here we go," she said, setting down the tray on the coffee table. "Oatmeal cakes and celery with peanut butter. I realize they're not what most people tend to serve at gatherings, but ah, I've never had a bunch of people over before."

Standing straight up, she smiled nervously. "I can't say for sure what this all meant for us before, but. We owe it to ourselves to find out more about these memories, right? And... we sort of owe it to each other."

It's probably better that some of what's going through the other girls' minds isn't spoken aloud; Alicia would have a field day, between letting her own concerns out and adamantly refusing to let any of them walk away. Whether they remained friends as a group, she didn't want to lose any of them. The words that are spoken filter into her mind without comment, but the clink of the tray on the table pulls her back at last. She's not sure she could eat right now anyway, so she doesn't pay it a whole lot of attention.

"No offense taken," Alicia manages aloud, rolling Melody's comment into what Rachel is saying. "But we do owe it to each other - and to the rest of the city, in some way - to find out what all this means. Who the girls in our memories are. How they knew each other. And... what it means for us." She can't really provide an outlet for her nerves, so she settles for putting her hands in her lap and trying not to wring them too much. "I'd like it if we could remain friends no matter what, but... I also don't want to presume."

All three of them should recognize that this isn't very... Alicia-like behavior. Clearly she's even more nervous than she's been letting on.

"How do we want to start, then...?" Part of her wants to defer to Maya, who she knows has seen more than she has, at least. But it's not her place to say. Whether that's sensibility or apprehension talking is anyone's guess.

Well. Maya's not sure if anything she said made the situation better, but she said it - all she can do is roll with it. She purses her lips at Melody's reaction, but tries not to let it get to her. She can't, in a way - in a weird way, having said a lot of what sparked all of this, she feels responsible.

She nods to Rachel and Alicia, grabs a piece of celery, practically swallows it whole, and then slaps her knees before she leaps back to her feet.

"I know exactly!" she proclaims, attempting to keep up some sense of a brighter disposition. "I told you all about remembering the slumber party, but Melody also told me something else! She remembered singing, being filmed!"

She holds up a finger. "And when I went to see Alicia at her movie's release signing the other day, I remembered something else!" Her held up finger then points to Melody. "I remembered waiting in line to meet with the purple haired Melody! Or more over... someone named 'Makopi!'"

Anything that Melody might have wanted to add is honestly forgotten. Because after Maya speaks up, Melody honestly doesn't know what to say anymore.

"I... Wh... Huh?" She's kind of sputtering, but this is a new one and she wasn't expecting it, thanks Maya. "Mako...pi? Are you sure that was me...?"

"... That doesn't sound like a real name," was Rachel's immediate response after hearing Maya's announcement. She was going to comment on her eating a celery stick in one bite, but... this was altogether more surprising.

"Maybe it was a nickname, or something? They give names like that to celebrities in Japan... but uh, Melody isn't exactly a celebrity, is she?"

"There is no way that's-"

In the middle of agreeing with Rachel, Alicia zones out. It's not for long, a few seconds at most, but it's fairly noticeable given it's in the middle of a sentence. When she comes out of it, she sucks in a tiny breath in surprise, and a hand delicately goes to her temple, eyes wide. Memory acquisition again...?

"-no. No, it isn't. A... stage name? She was on a billboard. Purple hair, purple eyes. It did..." Almost unbidden, her gaze turns to Melody, confusion clear in her expression. "It did look more than a little bit like you."

Maya was aiming for a dramatic reveal, but she feels a little bad with how surprised the other girls are. Until she notices Alicia zoning out and is suddenly leaning over in her direction, preparing to wave a hand in front of her face... which she yanks away as she seems to come back to.

She blinks rapidly and gasps, reeling back. "AH! IT WORKED! You remembered something too!"

"A... A stage name? But..."

She trails off, though. Just like Alicia, she's hit with a sudden memory. She blinks a few times once it passes, looking at the floor now. A stage name. Her stage name? Apparently so, according to what she literally just remembered.

"What the hell..."

Rachel was about to say something again, when she saw Alicia's response. And then? Melody's. She feels a lump forming in her throat as she realizes this is what the memory thing looks like from the outside...

... Only for her own eyes to widen as she feels a rush of knowledge in her own head.

"It looks like we all got something," she said. "Makopi... her name was Makoto Kenzaki. Makopi was a stage name, I can confirm that."

When she comes back from the memory, Maya is suddenly really close, and she fights not to flinch away - it'd be detrimental, she suspects. She instead focuses on the visual effect that her words have on the others - Maya in surprise, and Melody and Rachel... giving her the same vacant look for a second or two that she's sure was on her own face, Alicia realizes in horror. They've all remembered the same thing...?

"Maya... Maya, this is really strange, isn't it?" is what comes out of her mouth, looking to her friend with concern and badly-disguised panic she is trying to clamp down on. "Makopi - Makoto being in all our memories can only mean..."

We really are all related from before now. We were all friends before...? The thought chills her to the core, and she shivers. Something is very, very strange here.

Then, Maya sees everyone's reaction, and her stomach sinks. Maybe she'd made a mistake. She doesn't want to make anyone uncomfortable, and thinking she could do that bothers her in a way she'd never really experienced before. She frowns and takes a step back, averting her gaze from Alicia, to whom she was nearest.

"It- yeah. It's... it's really strange, but. Mm. I'm sorry, I didn't want to ... make things worse here. I just... I thought if we were remembering the same things, that might help!"

She looks down at her feet. "I could be wrong, though..."

"Stop." The word comes out a little more harshly than intended, but right now Melody isn't really looking at anyone. This is a lot and this time it's all specifically relating to... her? Not her? Either way, it makes it weigh heavier, somehow. "Can we slow down a little? This is... I don't even know what this is..."

It's harder to pass this off as some strange shared dream now. Well, it already wasn't possible, not really. But now... Melody just keeps looking at the ground.

Makoto Kenzaki...

Makopi...

"Why are we even calling them memories when we don't know if that's what this really is? It could be something entirely different." And now we're getting to denial. When she doesn't even have a different explanation to give.

Rachel looks up with a start, feeling blood rush to her face as she's overcome with guilty feelings. Her hands tense and clench into fists, and she looks down. They'd... they'd gone on like this, talking about something that related to Melody so suddenly. Rachel at least felt like she'd made a mistake, though... she tended to do so a lot.

... Too much in fact. Maybe it was time to stop.

She bit her lower lip, closing her eyes as she struggled to find the words. Melody was upset. Alicia looked troubled, and Alicia rarely looked troubled at all. And of course, Maya, doing her best to help.

"There's nothing else we can really call them, Melody," Rachel said, doing her best to keep a kind of even tone. "When these things pop in my head, they don't feel like something that doesn't belong there. It's not like like I'm watching something. I just know it. I don't have any idea what else to call it. It's almost like..."

... There was only one thing she could think of. And the longer she avoided the elephant in the room, the longer they'd be be in denial.

"They're from another life. That's what they feel like. Like... it's me, but in another time and place."

This was clearly difficult for Rachel to say, but she was doing her best, even if the implications made her look more and more worried. She looked directly at Maya, and nodded. "Maya's right... this isn't just about rushing anything. I know this is happening real fast, but that's... not something we can really stop. Whether this is something all in our heads, something implanted into our memories, or if it's even fake... it's brought us all together. That's better than doing it all alone. This shouldn't force us to accept each other, but... it'll be harder if we have to figure it out by ourselves..."

She looked down. "I've never been good at making friends. But... ever since this all started. All three of you... you've already started to help change that. It's all kind of scary, but... talking to you and others... that's already started to change that."

Edited 2017-03-15 06:06 (UTC)

The tension in the room isn't lost on Alicia. Her mind roils, working through a hundred different possibilities and not liking most of them. Her mouth opens to say something-

-when two different forces squelch that. The first is Maya actively stepping back and looking away from her, which makes her heart hurt for a reason she doesn't really understand and her mouth snap shut audibly. The second is Melody's interjection, which stalls anything she would have added after Maya. Deflating, she lets herself sink back into her seat, suddenly feeling very heavy. The concern is still there, so is the fear, but more than anything she doesn't want to keep driving the emotion in the room even higher. The fear is shifting now, just a little, and she's afraid she's going to drive them away. That is something she won't allow, so she forces herself to stay on track and not let herself work into a fury.

Rachel's theory, though, stuns her into further silence. Another... life? Although... hmm. Alicia's brow knits in consideration, even as she takes in everything Rachel continues with. She's almost scared herself too much to talk when Rachel winds down, but she knows she can't just stay clammed up, either.

"We can't... we can't just keep rushing in," she finally allows, tone soft and not at all steady. "We don't know what these are. Visions, or memories, or even images of another us. I'm not sure we ever could know with certainty. But I'm certain I'm seeing myself, now." Her voice is becoming stronger; either she's convincing herself what she's saying makes sense, or she's getting caught up in her own ideas. "We are not those girls, not yet, possibly not ever. But there has to be a reason, especially since they keep coming the longer we spend together. We are four, and we are linked by these memories. That's clear to me, now."

For a moment she's quiet again, gathering her thoughts even as her mouth moves vaguely and her hands clench into fists where they've been in her lap as best as she could keep them there. "But whatever else happens... even without those memories, we were friends. I'd like... I would like to see where that goes, all other things notwithstanding. I'm better for having met you, all three of you." She glances at all of them in turn, a small smile coming to her lips at last despite herself. "Surely that's a bond worth keeping, no matter what we learn that would stress it. No matter what crazy thing comes up next."

She feels a little frayed at the edges; working through her certainty that something was going to go wrong is tiring after a while, and a hand goes roughly through her hair as she tries to get a bit of the stress out of her system. Slow, deliberate breathing is helping to get her pulse back under control from the series of spikes a moment ago. But... she has a tiny feeling that, just maybe, things will be okay.

Maya looks ... monumentally more and more worried as Melody's frustration becomes all too evident. It makes sense, and she realizes that intellectually. Emotionally and visibly she takes a step back almost like she's been struck by something. Seeing Alicia deflate like that after she recoiled from her doesn't help matters much either.

She's feeling like she's made an awful mistake, even as she's tried to step back from it. She just wanted to try and help all of them understand what might be going on. She had already liked being around these girls before the crazy visions or memories or whatever started up! But that's kind of what always happens, isn't it, Maya? Either you go too hard or you don't go hard enough, and either way people just kind of. Aren't there anymore. The fear of that repeating itself grips her into silence, along with an outstanding want to run out of the room, the house entirely. For a moment, at least.

Then Rachel speaks, and then Alicia follows her. She feels a bit of resolve creep back into her, and words from that pink haired girl she was seeing the life of echoes in her mind. They're kind of silly, stupidly idealistic words, but... Maya can't help but feel like they're ones she'd like to make her own, someday. Even if she recognizes she herself has often just gone for things that interest her, that she's acted in selfish ways that someone who'd say things like that would never consider.

She lets out a long breath, nodding.

"What's most important to me, here, right now, is just..." She gives a sigh. "I like all of you. I haven't ... really had a lot of friends, you know? Not ones that have lasted. But even before we had any of these visions, meeting all of you really stood out for me! It was... nice. I want to be friends, and I want to be able to protect that!"

She frowns a little. "So I agree... with Rachel and Alicia there, and I'm glad to hear that. This strange stuff isn't just going to stop happening, right? I'd rather be able to deal with it with people who know and can even begin to understand what we're seeing!"

Maya turns her head, focusing on Melody, attempting a smile. Alicia also doing so helps that look a little more genuine than it might otherwise. "I came on a little strongly. I'm sorry, and I know it's weird! A lot of this that's been coming to us has been about you, but... I don't think you're going to be the only one, if this kind of thing can come up so easily. We've remembered these things by similar things happening, or hearing it described, right? Who knows what could cause that! I don't want this to come so fast, but if they're going to come up, isn't it at least a little better that some people who might be able to piece together parts of it? It was scary to me at first, but when I knew you guys were seeing similar things, I felt... a lot better about it, a lot more like we might be able to deal with this, even if it was no less scary, then."

The others are making sense. They're making a lot of sense. And Melody knows that, as she listens to it. She knows that obviously this is strange to them, as well, but it's hard to keep all of that in mind when confronted with a situation like this. Even simpler situations are often too much for her to handle. It's why she keeps to herself, doesn't get involved with people.

But right now there's only so much she can do by putting up a wall. If this strangeness keeps going, then she can't just wall herself off from it... can she? So maybe, for now, she can ease up. Just a bit, just this one time.

Honestly some of this is still too hopeful for her liking, even if it's a nervous hope. Her natural cynicism wants to argue and protest. But instead she stays quiet for a moment longer, letting herself calm down. She takes a deep, slow breath. She has to try to think about what this all means. Make an attempt. All this about friendship and bonds is a little too much for her. But there are other parts she can focus on instead, rather than shutting things down.

"...It does... seem like that." The sentence lingers for a moment, with little context. But then she looks over at Rachel. "Like... Like another life. It doesn't feel like it's me, but it's still like those visions can only be mine." Or Makoto Kenzaki's. Right now, that doesn't seem so different. "All of this is kind of like a puzzle, isn't it? But one where we're missing a lot of pieces."

Turning so she can look at the others too now. "But even an incomplete picture is better than nothing, right?"

She's trying.

In a way, Rachel is sort of relieved. The whole idea of other lives feels so anti-scientific, she was worried everyone would immediately dismiss her as delusional. But... what she said clearly had an impact, which was good. Nothing about this fit what she knew, so looking outside of it to other possibilities was all that made sense.

But there was a lot more on the line than that. When Melody looks at her, she can only nod, and attempt to keep her expression level. This... this is probably hard for Melody too. But she's trying, and the least they can do is give her the same.

"You're right, it is like a puzzle," she said, doing her best to show a convincing smile. "And like Maya said... we can piece it together a lot easier if we do it together. I think we're all on the same page on that, at least...? If we are, we can get back to talking about the things we've remembered."

"It isn't any less scary," Alicia breathes, while she digests everything else. The mood in the room has swung again, back out of the danger zone and into... curiosity? Evidently being on more or less the same page, even if it collectively took a bit to understand that much, enables the four of them to continue like nothing is wrong. "It's a puzzle where we not only don't have all the pieces, but we don't know how many pieces there are. Or even what the picture looks like. Still, every bit we assemble brings it into a little better clarity. And more hands should make it easier to see how it all goes together." As she speaks, more of the tension and the worry drain from her tone; it seems like everything is going to be fine.

No, that's not so much her concern any more. What's crossing her mind now is that she knows another party: herself. Or rather, her "other self", the "other Alicia" with the clovers in her hair and wisdom beyond her years. The other Melody has already made waves: she's a singer, and apparently popular. What is the other Alicia...? Does she want to know?

...no, that's not the right attitude for this. She needs to know. Maya and the others are, in a way, counting on her to put forth what she knows. The puzzle doesn't get any more complete if you purposely ignore a section. She doesn't feel like she knows much, but between them they've got an image of Makoto now, so perhaps it'll work out.

"-I have no objections to going next, if it's all right? I have... a little bit of information on what I think is myself. Or, I suppose my other self." Alicia's tone is more stable than it's been, but there's still a note of apprehension in it. She's okay putting herself in the spotlight, but this is something a little more severe than that, isn't it?

Maya's about to say something-- she's grateful that things don't feel like they're falling apart. Anymore, at least. They're as well together as they're going to be. She's about to thank them, and to give a confirmation to Alicia when she has something of a blank look as something else floods into her mind. A side effect of this whole conversation, really - she can see the aforementioned billboard of Makoto Kenzaki, while her "other self" is...

Reacting rather excitedly. Almost too excitedly. There's an exasperated presence near her, and while she could take an easy guess to their identity she quickly blinks back to reality. And... blinking rapidly.

"I. Um. Nothing new to add... yep, that's. That's sure a billboard..."

Ahem.

Best not to dwell on the way she acted in that memory, it's probably non essential. Just. Not going to look at Melody straight on for a second, but she instead focuses her attention on Alicia.

"Please, if you've got something else! That can only help, right?"

Well, she assumes.

"Hm." Now that the discussion is... starting to move again, she's a bit calmer again. So she simply nods at Alicia. "Please go ahead."

She'll just sit back and listen for a while. That's... a little easier than actually adding anything herself. This much she can handle.

Rachel feels somewhat relieved. Things do seem like they're going to be fine now, so she can relax a bit. However, she does notice something in Maya's eyes, recognizing what's happening, before she can get a chance to confirm to Alicia to keep talking.

"Ah, yes, go ahead Alicia," she said. "Tell us what you've got."

She's thinking that suddenly getting memories may not happen all at once. Is there something that causes a delay for some people? That's a bit inconvenient, but it requires a bit more thought...

Edited 2017-03-24 20:06 (UTC)

"I hope it'll help, at least," Alicia adds with a frown. "I don't know much about the other me. I know she must have been well-off, given she owned a whole radio tower, and she was referred to like someone with money. I know she had some power, since she had access to the security cameras in the tower. And I know she must have liked clovers, given she wore them in her hair. And..."

This last bit is probably the one that's worth anything; she hesitates a moment, but eventually she shakes her head and continues. "And I know her name, or at least her given name: Alice. That's it, for now."

That laser attention from her friends is a heavy weight, but it has to get done, right?

Maya opens her mouth to say something. This seems really interesting, and she's wondering how it connects to everything she sees - when she suddenly sees herself standing in line, calling over to some classmates in the shadow of a massive tower and the longest line she's ever seen.

She rapidly shakes her head and just flops back, sinking into her seat.

"Is it really that fun to stand in line?" she asks, absently.

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